you know that picture with all of the yellow tulips?

i'm the one red one.

my eye-catching title tonight and zinger first line are not so much of a theme as they are a general musing on the recurring feeling i have lately. where exactly do i fit? where is the field of flowers just like me? rather...not just like me (NO THANKS!), but at least with enough of a mix that i don't stick out like a sore thumb...or to spin it a different way, a red tulip. i'm ready to fit in...somewhere. even a really mismatched bouquet. anything.

i do feel quite at home here in pittsburgh, in many ways, though. staying with amy and doug and the boys has been great. i am really happy to be somewhat helpful to them and they are VERY helpful to me as they are providing me with room, board, and...love!

to catch up on the last week or so since my final florida post...i spent some time in nashville, tennessee that was pure fun. what a great city! in my two days there, i visited belmont university's beautiful campus with old pal (now belmont super-senior) johnny wallace, saw a full-size reproduction of the parthenon (excess), visited historic franklin, heard some live country music on broadway, and much, much more. see photos below and enjoy...they MAY be the first of many. i hope to visit nashville again soon!

AMAZING sweet potato pancakes at legendary pancake pantry.
before:

after:

it killed me not to finish every last bite. but you know how pancakes are.

me and johnny, courtesy of my mac webcam. thanks for hanging with me, johnny!

this is johnny on his scooter/vespa/buddy! yeah, yeah, taking pictures while driving isn't as bad as texting, okay?

the parthenon.

my special art deco view of the parthenon.

live country band at tootsies! i got really excited when they started playing the whitestripes. maybe i DON'T belong in nashville. ha.

this photo may not look like much to you, but to me it is the fulfillment of childhood dreams. at some point in first grade we were asked to journal about what we would invent if we were little inventors and i had this strong desire to create a bubble-maker. and this is EXACTLY what it looked like. if you look closely, you can actually see some bubbles. it is awesome.

what's not to love?

will update sooner next time. hopefully there will be something in the next post about getting hired somewhere here in pittsburgh for the time being...think i should attach the following picutre to my resumes?